Trisha Shetty (Editor)

New Silk Route

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Industry
  
Private Equity

AUM
  
$1.4 billion

Founded
  
2006

Headquarters
  
Predecessor
  
Taj Capital

Website
  
www.nsrpartners.com

Assets under management
  
1.4 billion USD

Type of business
  
Private

Key people
  
Products
  
Private equity, Growth capital

New silk route


New Silk Route ("NSR" or New Silk Route Partners LLC) is a $1.4-billion private equity firm that invests in private companies in India, Asia, and the Middle East.

Contents

History

New Silk Route was initially named Taj Capital. Its founding team included, at various points (alphabetically):

  • Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, 20th finance minister of Pakistan
  • Anil Kumar, former senior partner at McKinsey & Company
  • Mark Schwartz, former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia and CEO of Soros Fund Management
  • Parag Saxena, former managing partner of Invesco Capital and Vedanta Capital
  • Raj Rajaratnam, former managing partner of the Galleon Group
  • Victor Menezes, former vice chairman of Citigroup
  • Messrs. Kumar, Rajaratnam, and Schwartz resigned as founding partners before the firm began operation.

    Messrs. Gupta, Kumar, Menezes, Rajaratnam, and Saxena have all, at various points, been target of or found guilty in U.S. criminal or civil law enforcement investigations.

    The firm enjoyed close relationships with both Goldman Sachs and the Galleon Group: "A month before joining Goldman’s board, Rajat Gupta began marketing a $2 billion hybrid private-equity and hedge fund vehicle called Taj Capital Partners with one of Goldman’s biggest hedge fund clients, Raj Rajaratnam." According to Fortune, "New Silk Route's original fundraising was for $2 billion (under the name Taj Capital) -- and [...] the first $600 million or so went into Galleon hedge funds."

    Leadership Team

  • Anand Dorairaj, Partner
  • Jacob Kurian, Partner
  • Jens Yahya Zimmerman, Partner
  • Parag Saxena, CEO & Founding General Partner
  • Sanjeev Chachondia, Operating Partner
  • Vivek Sett, Partner
  • Senior Operating Partners

    The fund formed a strategic advisory board in January 2012 comprising:

  • Dr. Herbert Henzler, former Senior Partner and Chairman of Europe at McKinsey & Company
  • Nina Shapiro, VP Finance at International Finance Corporation
  • Supratim Bose, President of Asia-Pacific at Boston Scientific and former Partner at New Silk Route
  • Investments

    In 2010 NSR invested in:

  • Café Coffee Day
  • Nectar Lifesciences
  • Amonix
  • In 2008 NSR invested in:

  • Augere
  • Beaconhouse School System
  • Destimoney
  • Orissa Television Communications
  • In 2007 NSR invested in:

  • Reliance Telecom Infrastructure
  • Ascend Telecom
  • References

    New Silk Route Wikipedia